Sheathing of spokes.



L. A. YOUNG.

SHEATHING 0F SPOKES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 15. 1915.

1 165,056, Patented Dec. 21, 1915.

TTow'nEY UM TED STATES PATENT orrrea.

LEQNARD A. YOUNG, or HiGI-ILANDPARK, MICHIGAN.

snnli'rnine or sroKEs.

Specificationof Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 21, 1915.

Application filed March 15, 1915. Serial No. 14,474..

and exact description of the same,-such'as.

will enable other skilled in the art to which it. pertains to makeand. :use. the same, reference being had to the'accompjanying drawings, which forma part of this specification.

Thisinvention relatesto a method and machine for sheathing vehicle Wheel .sp okes- The spokes are made rup of woodi provided with a sheathing which is placed upon the spoke bya method adapted to, secure a very tight fitand to embed the seams in the sub-' stance of the woodenspoke itself so that they will not protrude' in the finished product. The method issuch that not only is. the sheathing placed upon the spokes very tightly but the. operations may be carried out very rapidly.

[The essential steps -of;my methodand the details .of the machine will more fully apshown in my Patent 1,125,627, and also'in pear in the description {hereinafter following. 1

In the drawings,,Fig;ure ljis a plan view of a machine capable ofcarry ng out my method. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the machine. Fig. :3 isla. cross section :of .fin-

ished spoke having a lap seam sheathing.v

Fig. 4 is a cross section of a finished spoke having a lock seam sheathing.

The type of wheel in which the spokes that I make by my new method are used is my pending application #7 ,57 9, the latter ofwhich is my preferred form of spoke. It will be noted that the spoke is preferably slightly tapering from the hub end a to the rim end. This is the customary shaped spoke used in the so called artillery wheels, but instead of making it of very hard wood such as hickory, I make it of a slightly softer and cheaper wood such as maple,

which is made possible by reason of the use of the metal sheathing which adds strength to the spoke which otherwise would not be as strong as one made of hickory. u

The sheathings b are preferably assembled before they are put in the dies, that is .to say, the two halves of such a sheathing as is shown in Figs. 3 and 4 are put to- 'gether before the sheathing is placed in the machine. .The lap seam sheathing of Fig. 3 is welded together at the seams while the lock seam sheathing shown in Fig. 4 does not require welding but the two halved portions may be caused to engage to lock the same together. I do not desire to limit my self to any particular form ofv sheathing as the same. might be, made with only one seam, or may be tubing for that matter, provided that suitable tubing could be had for this purpose.

0 represents the bed of the machine which is provided in its upper surface with a large wedge-shaped recess d in which the two die blocks 6, 6 run. They are guided in their opening and closing movements by the bolts gthat pass throughthe slots 9 in the blocks.

ence when the die blocks 6 are pushed to the left,;in Fig. 1, they are constrained to open up. This pushing is effected by the pivoted hand lever it which isconnected by two linked to the tapered ends of the blocks. Consequently by pulling this hand lever it to the right as shown by the dotted lines of Fig. 1, the ,die blocks are opened up. {The sheathing b may be inserted therein and the die blocks closed again. The next step is to force the spoke into the sheathing in the die blocks by anend to end movement. This is accomplished in the following manner? A spoke is placed in the spreadable sectionalguideawhich comprises a pair of grooved members that are normally yieldingly projected toward each other by the springs j. The spreading and contracting movements of the two sets of grooved members of the guide are guided by a plurality of pins is fastened to each section of the guide members and capable of reciprocating in the cylindrical recesses Z in the table bed. The ends of the guide sections toward the end from which the spoke is inserted are divergent as indicated at m. The divergence substantially corresponds with the enlargement of the'hub end of the spoke.

When the spoke has been inserted between the two sets of yielding members u of the guide, it is pushed endwise into the sheathing in the dies'by means of the ram or bulldozer n which is here shown in the form of a rack slidable in a suitable guide 0 although it is, of course, apparent that other'ways of propelling the ram or bulldozer may be employed. The rack engages with the pinion p on the shaft 9. Hence when the shaft is rotated by the application of power to the pulley Wheel fi th e ram or bull- I dozer is quickly driven against the spoke and follows the spokeinto the guide and firmly presses the spoke into the sheathing the dies.

The ram or bulldozer is Withdrawn byapplication of power to the shaft Q from the other pulley'wvheel 's, Which is driven in the reverse direction. This alternate application of power to the two pulley Wheels is effected by the clutcht Which is built so that the, pulley Wheels may slip on this When too great resistance, is. encountered as when V the spoke is driven completely home into the i sheathing and the dies.

- It will be noted that the arrangement of the diesis such as 'to'resist the thrust of the spoke to the best possible advantage, as When the dies are together, they are com.-

pletely wedged between the powerful bosses on the machine bed which surround thetapered recess (Z. Consequently the resistance to'the thrust of the ram or bulldozer is ample to Withstand the same. The object sheathing is very tightly fitted upon the spoke and yet, While it is-ybeing tightly fitted upon the spoke, it is given such exthe very heavy internal pressure suffered by the Wedging action of the tapered spoke being driven into the tapered (sheathing;

This external resistance afiorded-bythe dies ternal pressure thatthe seams 'Wlll not separate nor the sheathing be split by reason of m tes also serves to drive the seams as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, directly into the substance of the spoke so that 'notonly does this tighten the fit and securely lock the sheath- 'ingto the Wooden spoke, but it also prevents the seams from protruding at the sides 'of'the' spoke in an 'inartistic Way;

.By'the method above described and the machine above set forth, the spokes may be ensheathed very rapidly, as apile'ofsheathings may be placed adjacentthemachine, 'BllGIlQOHQ sheathing laid into the dies, the dies closed, a spokelaid into the "guide, the power applied and the spoke driven home.

The dies. mayM-be opened, the completed spoketaken out and .the operation repeated,

and so on. V

That I claim is: I

l. "A method ofsheathingzspokespcom- 7 prising the driving of a spoke GIlClWIlSG into .a sheathing and externally resisting the tendency of the sheathingto expand.

y 2. A method of sheathing tapered spokes, comprising the driving of the'spoke end- Wise into a tapered sheathing arranged to fit the same-and externally resisting the tendency of the sheathing to expand.

A method of sheathing tapered spokes,- comprising the guiding and driving of thetapered spoke into the tapered sheathing WllIlChlS arranged to fit thesame, and externally resisting the tendency of the sheath-- ing to expand.

In testimony whereof, I sign this speci I I fication in the'presence ,of'tWo Witnesse's.

Witnesses:

STUART C. BARNES, 7 t VHTGINIAV'CQ'SPRATTI Q-LEONARD-AQYOUNG.

Copies of this patent-may be obtained for five cents each, :by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington 1).?035, 1 v 

